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I heard today that the Hawks dropped out of the Ryan Kesler bidding for one simple reason.

The Canucks insisted Brandon Saad be part of the package.

As Kenny Rogers once said: you gotta know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em, know when to walk away, know when to run (yes, I just quoted Kenny Rogers). And you know what, this is when to push back form the table.

Saad showed in the playoffs, and with a pretty strong sophomore season that he is already a very good NHL player, and is potentially a great one.

I like Ryan Kesler's game, and I think he'd fit the Hawks' second line center role like a glove. But Saad is/was/would be too high a price to pay for that.

The source tells me Saad is an untouchable. Two other names I am hearing you can put on the untouchable list are Brent Seabrook and Niklas Hjalmarsson. Some have theorized of late that one or the other is being shopped or should be.

Stop. They aren't going anywhere. Nor should they be.

Johnny Oduya, on the other hand, is being shopped and there is a lot of interest. That, and more, i will cover in a later blog as I have more information.

For now, Happy Father's Day all.



JJ

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